Kurt, a young traveller from Switzerland, bought his first campervan in Perth, Australia, in 1987 to explore the country for six months. After working for a few years as a mechanical engineer across Europe, he met Yvonne in 1989, who shared his passion for travel and was also from Switzerland.
In early 1991, they embarked on an open-ended adventure, joining a motorcycle tour company as guides in Australia. By the end of 1992, their travels took them to New Zealand, where they were granted permanent residence.
In late 1993, they founded Bike Adventure New Zealand (BANZ), which offers motorcycle adventure tours throughout the country. In 1998, they launched their first rental campervans under the name BANZ Travelcars. As their adventure and rental business expanded, life became busier with the arrival of their two sons. In 2001, BANZ Tours and Rentals Ltd was officially incorporated.
In 2006, Yvonne, a qualified chef, decided to fulfil her dream of studying nutrition and became a Nutritionist, making their lives even busier.
Fast forward to 2020, when everything came to a sudden halt, leading to the sale of all but one campervan. In 2022, they decided to revive the rental business and commissioned a local campervan builder to create new campervans for them.
Today, in 2025, they look very much forward to meeting and greeting travellers from all over the world, like they did when it all began back in 1991.
Cheers
Yvonne and Kurt
